O, and one more thought (apologies for the long posts here):
To all of you who said things like ‘whats the big deal with age?’ and ‘people ask me all the time, I don’t have a problem with it’
This is the big deal with our age: That little number can often mean the difference between a date (read: hope, a chance that our situation might change) and sitting at home with no dates.
Married people/people not in shidduchim don’t feel like their future depends on a number- single people do.
So, yes it’s a very loaded question to us. We know that guys say no to certain ages, but will say yes to someone 6 months younger because their age is a lower number.
The reason it is difficult to deal with, is that age- of all the factors taken into account when considering whether to marry someone, has the least meaning when it comes to a persons character and good spouse potential (unless you consider old age a good thing because it comes with life experience).
We all know why a guy asks how old the girl is- he wants to know where her biological clock is up to- and we all understand that. But just remember that you are reminding us of this painful fact when you ask us that question. So be careful with it.
Just some thoughts. Sorry if they are a bit raw- but this is just a tiny window into the inner life of some singles out there. (I can’t speak for all of them- but I know myself and my friends).